


to Forgive is Divine

by Raayy



Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Temporary Character Death, Gender-Neutral Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!), Hurt/Comfort, Lesson 16 (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!) Spoilers, Light Angst, Named Main Character, Other, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25866838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raayy/pseuds/Raayy
Summary: Yuki was one of the rare humans born with a soulmate mark: the words of their true love etched into them from birth. This was usually a cause for celebration, but, this time, it was more a cause for concern.What would their soulmate do to warrant a plea of apology written on their skin?Could they forgive them? They weren't sure, but, they were willing to try.Only time would tell if they were really prepared to forgive a demon for his sins.Lesson 16 spoilers!
Relationships: Belphegor & Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!), Belphegor (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Belphegor (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Reader, Belphegor/Main Character (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 105





	to Forgive is Divine

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for some technical descriptions of violence. Strangulation seems a common headcanon for how Belphie kills MC, however, a friend shared with me how they saw it happening differently and I decided to describe it a little, it's not graphic enough to warrant a tag but if you're very squeamish, be careful.  
> This was beta read by my friend Rider! May the gacha gods bless your pulls!

_ “You probably can’t forgive me for that.” _

Not everyone was born with words etched in their skin, but Yuki was one of the ones that did. The words were too small to make out properly at first, but Yuki’s parents celebrated that their newborn child had a soulmate they’d meet eventually in their life. Typically, it was a sign of good luck, after all a soulmate was someone that would love you regardless; someone that would cherish and support you through difficult times, and that you could always rely on for safety.

The words that indicated one would meet your soulmate, however, were always a sentence that would occur during a meaningful event between them. They were words your soulmate would say to you at some point, about how they honestly felt regarding you, and they tended to be specific enough the person would recognize the sentence. Many of them tended to be specific ways of saying “I love you”. Others related to a future event, some said more about the soulmate than the person with the words written on the skin, and Yuki’s…

Yuki’s words indicated a mistake.

After Yuki’s 3rd birthday, the words grew with the skin clearly enough to be read properly, and once their parents realized what they said, the reason for celebration turned into one to dread. What would this soulmate do to their child that they might never be forgiven for? Who was this person? And what would other people say about it? They weren’t ones to typically fret about what others said about them, however, these things impacted a child deeply, and they didn’t want Yuki to worry about any possible mean words from peers about the meaning of the sentence. So, instead of broadcasting to others the fact Yuki had a soulmate mark, they just kept quiet. They avoided talking about it if possible, and tended to hide the mark discreetly by not having Yuki own any shirts with a low collar.

It was merely a matter of time before Yuki's peers would begin asking if anyone had any soulmarks on their skin and, with time, they'd know about Yuki's. They knew that, and yet…

"Mommy?" A soft voice called from below "What's a soulmark?"

Yuki's mother sighed, but quickly smiled at her child "It's something that you're born with, sweetie. They're words you'll hear from your soulmate."

"My soulmate?"

The smile grew a little strained, but Yuki hadn't noticed. "Someone very important to you."

She wished she could have said 'someone you'll love', but who could be sure if that sentence was any indication?

"Do I have one, mommy?!"

"Yes, my dear," she sighed again and patted her child's head "but you shouldn't show people. You're becoming a big kid now, and shouldn't take your shirt off anymore, okay?"

The child hardly heard anything after the 'yes', as they squealed in delight from the excitement. The mother wished she could share some of it. She showed the mark in a mirror, as it was too difficult to see without one, being placed right under their collarbone. The mother read the sentence, but the child didn't understand.

"What does it mean, mommy?"

"... I don't know, sweetheart," the mother confessed, looking very tired, and hugging her child "but I know you're a good kid and never forget your daddy and I love you, okay?"

The child hugged their mother back, a pensive and confused look on their face. "Okay."

* * *

Yuki came to understand years later.

At first, Yuki didn't see the harm of saying they had a soulmark, even if they didn't understand what it meant. But, once they refused to show it, since their mother told them not to, many grew to believe they were lying. So they stopped talking about it, even if they almost pulled their shirt down to prove they were NOT a liar! They couldn't help but remember the sadness in their mom's face when talking about it, and decided to follow their mom's wishes, and endured the teasing instead.

Once they grasped the meaning of the sentence properly - for something to be forgiven, there needed to be a problem first - Yuki stopped talking about soulmates. Even when the topic was brought up, they changed it. But the truth is, Yuki thought daily about those words.

Why would they not forgive? Yuki thought about the word forgiveness often. Is it really something so hard to do? Would it be because Yuki was a bitter person, rather than it being a fatal mistake? They began to doubt themself and exercised the act of forgiving others for their mistakes. Some thought them a fool at times, while others thought it admirable, but Yuki merely wondered if it was enough. Maybe it was too much, maybe too little… They tried to balance it - they weren’t truly a fool - but wanted to err on the side of caution. They wanted to find in themself the ability to forgive their soulmate if they genuinely regretted making a mistake.

They couldn’t have expected what was in store for them, however.

Sure, the soulmate mark was, at its essence, something magical when it happened, but it was rare enough magic it wasn’t a daily occurrence. Yuki wasn’t used to big displays of magic, such as teleportation to another realm entirely they weren’t even aware of. The Devildom was surely a startling experience, and after being eased from their worries that they were safe, their life was arranged as an exchange student. Their college classes in the human world were simply postponed for a year, and it was time to worry about something else: namely, the avatars of sin.

From what Yuki knew - and they now noticed they didn’t know a lot - there were seven deadly sins: Pride, Greed, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony and Sloth. So, obviously, when they noticed one was missing, they were intrigued. They didn’t plan on pursuing their curiosity, though - they were still adjusting to the new surroundings, and needed to focus on learning as much as possible from this new place so they knew what was safe and what wasn’t, who to trust and who to not, but it seemed like the house had other plans.

On Yuki’s first night at the House of Lamentation, they couldn’t sleep. They were still processing everything that happened in such a short time, and a head full of thoughts did not invite rest. They were worried about their safety being entrusted to a demon that wanted nothing to do with them, being in a house with someone they were constantly warned could eat them, and wondering if they really were the best option for this program. Why them, anyway? They weren’t anything special, really, except for having a soulmark, but they doubted that would do them any good in the Devildom. They needed more practical magic to get by, or they were just defenseless. As they thought about all of this instead of sleeping, they heard it.

“ _Help… Someone help me..._ ”

They looked around, but couldn’t identify the source of the voice. It was a soft, slightly masculine voice, barely louder than a murmur, so why couldn’t they identify it in their room? Was the house haunted, on top of everything? In any case, they couldn’t really ignore it, and they got up from bed and went to investigate. They still couldn’t really tell the source, but something guided them, they couldn’t quite name what it was, but it was definitely magical. It guided them towards a staircase. But they were denied climbing it by Lucifer, with a thinly-veiled threat towards them. Yuki wasn’t particularly scared of it, as they were pretty sure that after all the student council did to keep the exchange student safe, to have them drop dead because of Lucifer would be pretty bad. So, they just took it as a strong no.

But they couldn’t ignore it.

They had to get involved in a lot of things to be able to finally climb the stairs. But if the continuous and unexplainable pull was any indication, someone still needed help. All they really wanted was to get used to things and not piss anyone off, but they could never ignore a call for help. They considered asking someone why they heard it, but truth be told, they didn't really trust anyone yet. So they decided to not say anything, until they figured out who was there.

When they first met the boy locked in the attic, they were surprised. They weren't sure what they were expecting, but it wasn't a healthy looking, if a bit on the thin and frail side, young man surrounded by pillows and soft things. Though, they were locked by a heavy door, so Yuki supposed it didn’t matter how comfortable a prison was if it was still a prison.

The boy claimed he wasn’t a demon, but Yuki was sure that was a lie. How could a human be in the devildom, besides this exchange program? The others would definitely have known if Lucifer had dragged a human down there somehow… but Yuki decided to agree to help anyway. After all, they were sure he was hiding something for a reason.

Then, Yuki learned who he really was: the seventh brother, and avatar of sloth, Belphegor. However, Beel had said that he was in the human world, but that'd mean Lucifer - his own brother - had secretly locked him up in there instead… They were more and more sure this entire thing was a can of worms, and Yuki was diving headfirst into it. But what could they do? They couldn't leave him there, who knows how long he had been left alone… While his brothers thought he was alright in the human world…

It started with a mix of sympathy and empathy for the demon. Even though he had lied to them, they were sure it was for his own reasons. He was a demon after all. It was in his nature to lean towards underhanded methods to get what he wanted, so Yuki wouldn't hold it against him. After all, Yuki didn't see why they shouldn’t forgive him for something he couldn’t help.

Yuki was not going to be the bitter, unforgiving person they feared to be over one self -preserving lie.

It was not going to be the only lie. But, as much as Belphegor might have thought them naive, Yuki was perfectly aware of what they were doing. They were helping a cornered demon who desperately needed some sort of help to be free from confinement by his elder brother, but above all… he needed help to be free from himself.

Yuki was no fool; they caught the hints Belphegor left that he thought lowly of humans and of what his brothers said that he hated humans. He might avoid talking about it and switch the subject, but there was so much conflict behind those lonely eyes.

The one time they approached the door to find Belphegor crying quietly was when they noticed. Yuki's heart didn't bleed for others often, but it was bleeding for him. It pained them to see such a conflicted soul. He demonstrated such hatred for humans, but the way he meekly requested Yuki to stay with him spoke so much more than that.

Initially, Yuki really didn't plan on sticking their nose in the demon brothers’ business too much, but as it happened, they grew to like and trust them. And it seemed like the opposite was true too; Mammon and Levi in particular had a huge shift in attitude, and Yuki was really thankful for it. Before they knew it, they were neck deep in the brothers’ problems, full of determination to help this dysfunctional family and the imprisoned brother in the attic.

So, here they were, thinking things over as they kept Belphie company until he calmed down. They didn’t know what to tell Belphie that would make him feel better, and they couldn’t really reach him on the other side of the door, so they couldn’t pet his head either. Not that they knew if Belphie would even accept this type of comfort… So they thought it over. How it had been a while since they arrived in the Devildom, and how Belphie was locked up before they arrived, so it must have been really lonely for him. And boring. Probably despairing as well. There was no one for him to talk to, no activities for him to do, and it was dubious how he was keeping himself fed. He surely didn’t want a stranger to be the one keeping him company, he would rather it be his twin brother. Was his stance really such a grave mistake that warranted this punishment?

Besides… For as much disdain as Belphie demonstrated towards Yuki, they noticed how he perked up briefly before feigning indifference and boredom whenever they showed up. Like how he complained a lot about how things at RAD must be boring and dull for Yuki, but he listened to Yuki tell him about their day intently. As much as Belphegor wanted to keep his cool façade going on, that the only favour the human was doing him was to free him so he could talk to Lucifer, Yuki knew they were saving him a little every time they showed up to help his loneliness. So Yuki slowly started visiting more often, until it was a daily thing. And they found themselves not only doing this for him, but because they yearned for his company as well. They liked hearing his soft voice, noticing how his movements were sluggish and delicate, and enjoying the mischievous way he’d casually speak of his misdeeds, and how peaceful he’d look when asleep.

Maybe… Maybe they liked Belphie a little different than the other demons.

They had a tender look on their face as they patiently waited for said demon to fall asleep.

* * *

  
When Belphie was freed, there was so much happening at once it made Yuki's head spin. How was he freed? Why was Lucifer so mad? Why wasn't Lord Diavolo budging on Belphegor needing to be imprisoned? When he finally accepted a workaround of sorts to reconsider Belphie's imprisonment, Yuki was told to travel alone through time and space to find out who let him out.

Yuki accepted in a heartbeat, of course.

Everything they worked for, the happiness of this strange family of demons, Belphegor's own peace of mind… there was so much at stake. And when they finally understood what happened, how Belphegor was let out of the attic, they were caught by him. They already spoke with more people than they were supposed to, so they were already feeling a little nervous from it, but they pressed on. It'd be alright in the end, right?

But there was a shift in atmosphere when Belphegor realized he was free.

Yuki could feel it, but they didn't know what to do. Belphegor offered a hug, and as much as Yuki would like to accept it, they hesitated. Something wasn't right.

Belphegor smiled anyway, and dropping the pleasantries, he transformed into his demon form as he lunged at Yuki. He wrapped his arms around them as he used his demonic strength to rob them of their air. Yuki felt their ribs creaking and the pain was infernal, they barely heard Belphegor speak as they gasped for air.

_ "I'm sure it must be very hard to breath." _

It wasn't hard, it was impossible. After the first rib snapped, they felt a hideous pain from it perforating their lungs. Their sternum gave in, and everything went black.

Then white.

There was… someone there. Someone they knew well, but not at all. The catalyst forall the grief and misery this family of fallen angels were going through, the real youngest sibling. Their ancestor. It was like many things in the Devildom - magical and hard to explain. But once they woke up again, they were fine. Yuki could breathe again. Trying to not think too hard on how or why, as most things tended to feel like a roller coaster ride there anyway and waved off as magical, Yuki heard a commotion. They wondered what was going on, and hurried to the source of the apparent conflict, worry evident. That's when they saw.

Their own body, broken through the torso, with blood coming from their mouth and gasping for air uselessly, while hanging almost limply from Mammon's arms.

It was horrifying to witness, even as it disappeared, but there was no time to think. Because Belphegor was approaching closer again. Yuki had to be quick to pacify the demon, and as her ancestor had made clear, she was the key. So Yuki spoke of Lilith, the human Lilith, and how she lived happily. It was quite a task, and quite a day, and Yuki was sure Belphegor had a lot to digest - centuries of hatred from humans over a deep grudge wasn't going to be unsealed magically with a few words, he needed some time and other things to fully heal, but it was a start.

And so, the herculean task of freeing Belphegor from the attic was done. It was done, and Yuki could rest easy now, but…

Things were never quite so simple, were they?

Belphie seemed distant and stand-offish from Yuki after that day. Yuki didn't blame him, as a lot had happened, but… it made them a little sad. Eventually, Yuki couldn't ignore how his brothers kept their distance from Belphie, and Belphie from them and Yuki, which was not unlike when he was imprisoned. His eyes were so full of loneliness, it broke Yuki's heart.

So they confronted Belphie about it.

* * *

"What's wrong?"

Belphie looked conflicted as they approached him. He tried to hide it under a bored look, but they’ve grown to know better by now. Their positions were not too unlike how they would meet before he was free from the attic, him sitting at that bed and you hanging around the bed, before entering. "It's nothing, really, I'm here because I wanted a peaceful nap."

"You're sure you're not hiding from anyone?" No reaction. "From me?"

Belphie looked further away, hair threatening to hide even more of his face. Bullseye, huh?

“Belphie-”

“Don’t,” he said, softly, “don’t bother. It’s okay, really, I’m fine. I’m free now, right? All thanks to you…” He trailed off, with a slight frown. “I haven’t even thanked you for that properly.”

Yuki smiled a little at that, but it seemed to have a negative effect on Belphie’s expression. “It’s okay, I know you appreciate it.”

“Still. I should at least do this much, so… Thank you.”

Silence hung heavy in the air until Yuki started to talk again, but he interrupted them, definitely in an evasive way.

“You’re really brave, I’ve noticed that much. You’re not afraid of me after all that… And it’s both confusing and admirable. But,” his voice dropped low, as well as his line of sight, and he sighed softly. “You don’t… have to force yourself any further to be around me.”

Confusion took over their features. Force themself? But he just said they weren’t afraid. “What do you mean?”

“...” He bit his lip, before finally addressing what really hung heavy on his mind all this time. “You probably can’t forgive me for that.”

Yuki's mind blanked.

A vague, distant part of Yuki was aware Belphegor said something else, but this? This was the sentence they had thought about the most their entire life. Their dilemma with forgiveness. Their fear of a wrong done so terribly, they couldn't find any kindness in their heart to forgive. Their curiosity of who was behind those words.

It was him.

Belphegor startled as his quiet confession was met with a bubbling laughter, and was further confused when he saw Yuki's crying face as they hugged him. The hug Yuki hadn’t accepted at first. But the position was so similar to how Belphie killed them, he was frozen stiff on the spot. Yuki didn't mind, they just laughed and cried for a bit while they clung to Belphegor and reveled in the fact that this was their soulmate.

The one they were fated to, one way or another. The one they had grown to love, despite the lies told and the initial disdain. And the person who had hurt them the most, but so deeply regretted it. As they calmed down, they looked up to Belphie's nervous face as they let go and smiled. Belphegor thought Yuki might have finally lost it.

"I forgive you."

Belphie's eyes grew wide for a moment, before his eyebrows furrowed, and he bit his lip again. "You shouldn't be so nice, you know, someone's bound to take advantage of that. Someone like me."

"I always feared someone would hurt me, hurt me so much it'd be irreversible, so much it'd break my spirit and I couldn't ever forgive them, but…" they sighed and smiled a little sheepishly now, "I think, the one who's hurting the most, it's really you, isn't it?"

It was Belphie's turn to get the air knocked out of his lungs from the impact of their words. He looked so startled, and he grasped the inside of his arms, almost in a self hug, before letting his hands drop and he gaped for a few moments before settling on saying "... I've always thought of you as a fool, but I seemed to have that wrong as well." He looked so uncharacteristically vulnerable at that moment. "Yuki, I…"

"It's okay. Really. It hurt, and I may never forget it, but I went knowing I'd end up hurt. I knew you were lying about being human, and that you were hiding things, and that you were lying about only wanting to talk to Lucifer… but I believed you had deeper reasons. I believed you weren't really evil deep down. And I'm just really glad to have found you and freed you, my soulmate."

_ My soulmate _ .

It was Belphegor’s turn to have an emotional moment, but unlike Yuki, he didn’t waste time before breaking down crying. Yuki, both happy and concerned for him, sat down on the bed as well and reached towards him. Before they could touch him, Belphie had pulled them into a hug, burying his face on their shoulder, sobbing openly. Yuki smiled and tenderly looked on as they pet his head. They kept like this, in a hug, for a long while as Belphegor let it all out. When he finally stopped crying, he softly sniffled but didn’t let go as Yuki had before him. If anything, he clung harder, not unlike a child who wanted comfort.

“I’m sorry.”

Yuki looked at him confused for a moment, but he didn’t budge from his position resting on their shoulder. He did, however, looked up to meet their eyes with his visible purple one. Curiosity shined from it, but there was something not unlike fear and uncertainty behind it.

“What for, Belphie?”

“I know you said you forgive me, but…” He looked away, sad, or maybe just ashamed would be more apt to describe him, “I still owe you at least this much. A proper apology. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I lied to you and used you and… hurt you. I really am sorry.”

Yuki had a small smile at their lips “I know.” They leaned their face on top of his head, closing their eyes, “I know.”

“I also…” he paused and bit his lip, but sighed and pressed on, “I’m also glad I finally met you… my soulmate.”

Yuki’s heart started beating faster at his words. Part of them didn’t expect him to understand soulmates, as in all their time in the Devildom they hadn’t heard anyone talk about soulmates, so they assumed it to be a human thing… But Belphie not only seemed to know, but he also… he was looking forward to meeting them?

They had a million questions to ask Belphie, but before they managed to select even one to clear their head with, he spoke again. “It’s… uncommon, generally, especially with angels, to have soulmate marks. Because the marks are sort of a human thing, and… Satan can explain it better than me, but… I had these marks even before I fell. I didn’t understand them at first, but…” He trailed off. There was a lot he could say about it. More than what he could properly explain at the moment, since he was still emotionally shaken and couldn’t think properly. “... Do you want to see them?”

“Yes,” Yuki blurted instantly, without giving Belphie time to take it back. Belphie only smiled, and nodded, finally letting go of them and unbuttoning his long hoodie, before taking it off. Yuki thought maybe it was on his chest as well, and they held their breath as Belphie showed him their arms instead. There, the words clearly greeting them were ones they spoke not too long ago:

_ “I think, the one who's hurting the most, it's really you, isn't it?” _

As it turned out, soulmates were a more common occurrence in the Celestial realm and the Devildom, but they took on other forms. Written marks were a human variation, and because humans didn’t have a lot of magic within them, it was uncommon.

Maybe it was because of Yuki’s heritage, being Lilith’s descendant and all, but whatever was the case, they didn’t care too much. What they cared was that the demon they grew to love so much was their own soulmate and that, despite all the fears and caution they had, it was indeed someone they loved and that loved them back.

And they couldn’t have imagined themself being happier, as odd as it might seem.

**Author's Note:**

> I was actually in an angst mood and I went "if MC and Belphie were soulmates, what's the most angsty connection they could have"? Rae/acridity helped me pin down the main idea, of soulmate marks where they speak of something vital in their relationship. In this case, it was Belphie's great terrible idea of killing the human exchange student, and I went on to imagine what the marks would symbolize to each of them and how they'd deal with it through their lives. Well, mostly Yuki. I have an idea for Belphie, and if the stars align and I manage it, I'll post it as a two-shot.  
> Fun(?) fact! On Yuki, the mark is right above their sternum, because it's where they died. On Belphegor, it's on his arms, because it's the part of his body he used to kill Yuki. (since it was an embrace it was more than just his arms but shh I had to limit it)  
> I hope you enjoyed it! I needed more forgiving and kind MCs fanfics myself, so I hope more kindred souls will enjoy!


End file.
